Thursday, June 23, 2011

Beginning on this day in 1956, guests were able to get a bird's eye view of Disneyland, for a quarter mile stretch between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland in the Skyway attraction. The new attraction debuted less than one year after the park first opened as part of a massive park enhancement. More than just a ride, this attraction served the purpose of saving the footsteps of guests as they were transported from one land to another. In later years, the Skyway was a welcome shortcut during parades, which made it more of a challenge to travel by foot. The Main Street Electrical Parade was a particular favorite site to see from above. Over the years, many guests would mistakenly refer to the attraction as the "sky buckets," but from this early photo above, it's easy to see the logic behind that. Future generations of the Skyway saw more modern gondolas, and when the iconic Matterhorn opened in 1959, guests literally traveled through the mountain, and decades later were able to get a peek at the "Abominable Snowman" character that continues to reside inside the attraction. In 1994, the Skyway took its last flight after transporting an estimated 150 million guests.